Camera and lens systems are well known and come in a variety of configurations for the consumer. These configurations include lens systems attached to the camera and cameras with interchangeable lens systems. Cameras with fixed lenses can include point-and-shoot type fixed focal length lenses or zoom lenses of variable focal length. Advantages of such systems are that they are easy to use and come in compact packages. Disadvantages of such systems include relatively lower quality optics or limited zoom capability. Cameras with interchangeable lenses are often known as, but not limited to, single lens reflex cameras. Such cameras include both film and digital type image media. Many interchangeable lenses, while generally only compatible with a particular camera manufacturer, can be used on both film and digital cameras of the same manufacturer.
Interchangeable lenses come in various types. The lenses can include various fixed focal length and zoom ranges. They can include optics of very high quality or less than high quality. Also, they can include various maximum apertures. Accordingly, cameras designed to use interchangeable lenses have available almost every type of interchangeable lens for their needs.
Interchangeable lenses of the related art all include several systems. Each lens includes an optical system which is at least one, but often several lens elements that are arranged in one or more lens groups. Often, at least one lens group is involved with focusing an image. This lens group, or focusing lens group, is often attached to a lens driver. Also, in the case of zoom lenses, a lens group provides the magnification of the image. The zoom lens group is attached to the zoom control. Lenses also include a focusing driver that may be attached to the focusing ring for manual focusing or to an auto-focus actuator on the camera body for automatic focusing. The lenses also often contain digital information regarding the type and characteristics of the lens. Still further, the lenses contain aperture controls and irises specific to the requirements of the optical system.